Hong Kong: City of two masks faces a new crisis
The implications of the UK's pledge are not small. Beijing has warned it will retaliate for any intervention in its internal affairs, and Hong Kong could become caught in the middle of a much bigger global dispute.Ms Cheung was a peaceful protester, but she does not want to distance herself from the violent frontliners - partly because she has taken on the profound mistrust of the police that became a rallying cry of the protesters.
Ms Cheung was just six at that time."I remember how residents living at Block E had to board a bus to be quarantined at a government camp," she recalled."I remember watching on television that the number of infections jumped every day."Hundreds of Amoy Gardens were sickened during the SARS epidemic in 2003
For a moment, the pandemic provided a lull from the months of protest and a unifying point for the city. Hong Kong has always taken pride in its can-do spirit. To many, surviving the pandemic was yet another example of what happens when people pull together. But whether or not it gets credit, experts acknowledge that the government has shown technocratic skill in managing the pandemic. Hong Kong has seen just four deaths, and no lockdown.The announcement of China's proposed national security law relegated the successes of the virus response to a blip. The narrative of a people pulling together in a communal triumph simply evaporated.
Then there are fears for Hong Kong's cherished protest culture, which pre-dates the events of last year. It is a culture shaped in part by China's Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, when a million Hong Kong residents marched in support of the student protests in Beijing. Mr Lam worries that there will be no more candlelight vigils after the national security law takes effect.
The risks are not inconsiderable. Brian Fong, a Hong Kong-based comparative political scientist, described the latest development as"a fundamental change in China's policy toward Hong Kong" - Beijing could risk losing access to foreign capital and technology through Hong Kong. No economic apocalypse has materialised so far: the Hang Seng index has recovered from an immediate sharp drop; the Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to USD, remains strong; there has not been capital outflow.
In the 1980s, Hong Kong experienced a wave of emigration. Tens of thousands of people left the city in fear of Communist rule. Mr Chan was among them, but he came back to build his career and start a family of his own.
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